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Tuesday, November 30, 2010

Decoding : The artist, the editor and the blogger

Some weeks ago, a picture surfaced on the web have created such a sensation. We could see Anna Wintour, the editor in chief of American Vogue with her iconic pageboy bob cut, except that it has been dyed, and she was now sporting animal print hair with some odd bunny hears.
But soon, viewers have realized that this picture was merely a very faithful painting, coming from the exuberant imagination of a Swiss artist, Saul Zanolari.
This 33 years old phenomenon is an already renowned digital magician, who excels in merging photos and paint and whose world would have amazed Sigmund Freud. Zanolari's creatures are insolent dollies with gigantic plastic heads, fake eyelashes which would make Katy Perry green with envy, and moustaches. Yes, you've read it right, moustaches, even pornstaches, especially worn by the most famous models of the world.

The surprising vision of Linda Evangelista as a udder with a moustache, which ranks directly after the work of Salvador Dali, will leave you flabbergasted, and quite excited. The burlesque and exhilarating show goes on with Kate Moss as a bird eating a worm, a devilish Marilyn and other funky fashion icons and drag-queens.
But what led the artist to strike at Anna Wintour ?
Sure, after all those years, the boss of Vogue needed a good make-over, she who has already been decked out with horns because she was suspected to be the devil out of the Devil wears Prada. But I am tempted to put another theory forward, purely far-fetched I admit.
Maybe Master Zanolari was celebrating the new Anna, the 2010's live wire vintage. Indeed, this year, the 61 years old editor has let her hair down ( everything is in the hair ) and offered us some memorable times, such as this delicious photo, taken during the Fashion Week.

But my favourite remains her speech at the Teen Vogue's Fashion University, the last 24 October, in New York. There, the most famous fashionista of the world told the kids that the best thing that could happen to them is to be fired. Ah. Oh, said the world.
But no, Anna Wintour didn't go berzek, nor is developing the first symptoms of Alzheimer, as some tactless journalists have murmured. Neither she is the devil, advising people to loose an insecure job they have struggled to get, in a period of crisis and unemployment. I think that the piece of advice was good and of the best intentions. Sure, life is challenging and the more challenge you get, the stronger you become. But that was working in the 80s, when the population was smaller, when there still was job offers and when the bosses weren't afraid that hiring would ruin their budget. Now that half of the graduates are unemployed after university, as well as almost 10% of the population, I think that Anna's tirade is very outdated.
But don't misunderstand me : I respect her.
I think that Anna Wintour is the grandmother every fashion blogger dreams to have. Ah, watching her knitting a D&G sweater under our Christmas tree, while eating the foie gras ice cream she has prepared just for us ...

But as every grandmother, we are nodding to her pieces of advice with a tender smile which means "That's cute, granny, but the world has changed, things are not the same anymore !".
I'd love to be fired. You know why ? Because it would mean that I have actually managed to get a first job. And by job, I mean a real one, with a salary and health insurance, not another internship. A job that would not lead me to precariousness because I have to pay a scandalously high rent just to live in the city, because all the good jobs are only in big and expensive cities. Being fired would mean that I have had the opportunity to prove my value at work. No, instead, all I can do is the photocopies, and writing the more I can, waiting for someone to have the courage to give me a chance. It is not as easy as Anna thinks. My father is not a tycoon of the British press, I didn't grow up in London nor get prestigious first jobs thanks to my family. I couldn't even pay the school of journalism !
But I don't complain, I am not jealous. I am aware that I have to work harder, to surpass myself everyday. I am an hard liner. Just like Anna Wintour. And I am also an agitator. Just like Saul Zanolari.
So, it is my time to give a piece of advice to Lady Wintour : you should consider following the make over tips of Saul because it would give you a brand new step into modernity and reality.
Oh, and perhaps you could also think about hiring more young writers ? My curriculum vitae can be found in the "Who's Sam ?" section under the header ...